Team B.C. names Canada Winter Games hockey roster

Nineteen Western Hockey League players or league drafts will try to help B.C. win a second gold medal in the last three tournaments when they suit up for the province at the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer.

The final roster was announced Wednesday.

The WHL will be represented by two goaltenders, six defencemen, and 11 forwards on the province’s roster at the Games, which run from Feb. 15 to March 3. Men’s hockey starts Feb. 16 and the gold-medal game will go Feb. 22.

Western Hockey League 2018 Bantam Draft fifth overall selection Logan Stankoven of Kamloops (drafted by Kamloops Blazers) and Steel Quiring of Vernon (Kelowna Rockets) will be counted on to lead British Columbia offensively.

Stankoven has 48 points (26G-22A) in 20 games for the Thompson Blazers of the British Columbia Major Midget AAA Hockey League. Quiring has collected 24 points (9G-15A) through his first 17 games with the Major Midget League’s Okanagan Rockets.

Four different WHL teams have a trio of prospects on B.C.’s roster at the tournament: Edmonton Oil Kings, Kamloops Blazers, Kelowna Rockets, and Victoria Royals are all tied among teams with the most prospects at the tournament. The Swift Current Broncos have a pair of players on B.C.’s team. The Brandon Wheat Kings, Calgary Hitmen, Everett Silvertips, Seattle Thunderbirds, and Spokane Chiefs each have a single player on the team at the tournament.

British Columbia opens the tournament Saturday, Feb. 16 against Manitoba, followed by games against Saskatchewan and Alberta.

The province’s history in men’s hockey at the Canada Winter Games includes two medals of each colour, with their last medal a golden performance at the 2011 edition of the tournament in Halifax, N.S.